


Autumn Leaves

by shiningstar



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiningstar/pseuds/shiningstar
Summary: Leia watches Rey and is reminded of another desert child.





	Autumn Leaves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



> This story is not compliant with _The Last Jedi_ in order to keep an implied familial concept intact.

Leia cannot afford to drown in her guilt. Guilt is a useless emotion. It slows people down and makes them second guess their choices. Leia cannot afford that kind of weakness. She can admit her mistakes and work to correct her follies but guilt needs to be sloughed off like dirt in a shower. She is General Leia Organa and too many depend on her. She cannot wallow even if she wants to.

Watching Rey makes that decision a harder one. Rey is a bright star in the Force that makes Leia remember things she had put behind her. Her unfettered delight at things most people would consider common is charming but it also underscores a certain lack in how she had grown up.

Leia takes time out of her schedule to introduce Rey to things that once would have made a young farmboy from Tatooine smile. It does not surprise her that Rey harbors a love for green and growing things. Leia does not doubt that the _Falcon_ will soon be unrecognizable as Rey amasses a collection of potted plants that are useful to her. That use will mostly be practical--food and medicine--but some ornamental gifts will likely sneak their way on board.

As the air turns sharp and crisp, green gives way to a spectrum of orange and yellow and red. Rey's eyes remind Leia of her brother as she takes in the new colors with a nostalgic kind of awe. The changing of the seasons echos the feelings Leia has while watching Rey.

She is old and tired. She is not infallible. Those who once walked in step with her do so no longer. She is an autumn leaf waiting to fall from a tree and make room for something new and green.

Leia cannot afford guilt. But alone in her quarters she can afford regret.


End file.
